The Israeli phenomenon

Yes, it is about time I write something about us.

First of all, I heard more than once from other travellers that it seems that half the country is travelling in Asia. I see it as a good characteristic for us, opposite to people who never leave their country. On the other hand, maybe we are so loud so there is no other choice but to notice us.

On the way from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong we had a stop for lunch. The question of my origin arrived sooner or later. Israeli tourists usually recognize me because of my looks. Locals who need to sell usually recognize me because it is their job. Other tourists have a problem some time, as my accent usually doesn't have the common Israeli accent to it. So I said I was from Israel. The next thing mentioned was the army, which led some guy to throw something about "killing Palestinians". It was annoying for the first moments, but yes, some people hate us, for many reasons, and not necessarily will listen.

On that evening, I scheduled dinner with Christa. When I arrived she was already sitting for a while with the company of people from our ride to Chiang Khong. After they left, she told me that guy told her that he had so many bad experiences with Israelis that he decided not to talk with them. He asked her how on earth she was able to travel with one. She agreed with him about Israeli. Her exposure to Israelis taught her that we are rude, thinking the whole world belongs to us, therefore behaving very bad to service people (I witnessed this terrible behaviour too and I agree on that). But she said she was still open enough to give people a chance, and not close up as this guy did.